DESENSITIZED//CRIMINAL MINDS

1.17 | 'all of us eating chinese food and not talking about murder'

"WALTER DERBIN, AGE 52, his body was found in his cab in east harlem." hotch explained to the team gathered around the round table as the photos on the screen flickered from the victim's driver's license to a crime scene photo of his body on the ground. "he was blindfolded and shot once in the chest. death was caused by a knife stab through his ear." he continued as sierra skimmed through the file in front of her. "the unsub broke off the handle and put the blade lodged in his brain."

jj nodded in agreement, grabbing the clicker from hotch and continuing to the previous murders. "it's the same signature as two other murders." she started, showing photos of a woman before and after being murdered. "rachel holman, 24. found in her apartment three weeks ago on the lower east side. and kaveh surrani, 30." she continued. "police found him two weeks later inside his painting studio in hell's kitchen."

hotch took control of the room once again. "different location, different victimology, it's possible we're looking for someone who'll hunt indiscriminately."

"does nypd have any leads?" elle asked, shuffling her files back to their original order.

hotch shook his head. "guy's a ghost." he admitted.

"he kills at night." jj reminded them. "there's no witnesses."

gideon let out a sigh, fiddling with the toothpick he balanced in between his teeth. "is the nypd feeling the strain?"

jj then shrugged her shoulders. "well, they've withheld details so the press hasn't sniffed out a link between the murders."

"with no discernible victim patterns, the killer's practically impossible to stop." morgan pointed out.

spencer nodded in agreement. "did you know the original zodiac killer actually continually changed his victims." he explained to the team, but seemingly the only one listening was the girl seated beside him. "young, old, men, women, white, black."

sierra winced, her eyes traveling from the doctor beside her to the file in front of her. "and he killed for 30 years without ever being caught." she reminded them.

the bau knew this was something they needed to solve — and fast. the last thing new york needed was another serial killer on their hands. "wheels up in 20." hotch said, as the agents dispersed back to their desks to gather their things.

things between spencer and sierra had been a little strange lately, sierra having become scared over how close they had gotten and her newfound feelings for him. she had been avoiding him the last few days, but not in any noticeable way. after all, it was her who had the problem, not him. she never wanted it to seem like she was icing him out for no reason, knowing that the doctor had the capabilities to be just as anxious as herself.

but, this just made him none the wiser to her insecurities about their relationship.

"so," spencer started, pulling his go bag out from underneath his desk across from sierra's. "have you ever been to new york before?"

sierra nodded, following suit and pulling her own go bag out from under her desk. "atticus' family is from brooklyn so we're there all the time." she informed him. "there's this incredible place in chinatown that we have to go to — it's to die for."

spencer nodded, letting out the smallest nod. he couldn't help but notice that she said they both had to go. "sounds like fun." he answered.